It had been a surprisingly uneventful summer for Harry. After the
tumultuous events of last year, where he came close to losing his life on
more than one occasion, he found the dull monotony of living with the
Dursleys almost pleasant. Living in Privet Drive left him with little in
terms of happy memories as his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley
were very open in their distaste for him treating him more like an
unfortunate burden than family. As his aunt Petunia was the only blood
relative Harry had left, they probably felt obligated to take him in but
not without complaining about it almost every day he'd been with them for
the past fifteen years.
"Happy fifteenth birthday, Harry," he said to himself as he smiled looking into the mirror. On his eleventh birthday, his whole life had changed. That was when he learnt the truth about himself, his parents and his heritage. He, Harry Potter was a wizard and from then on his life had changed at once for the better and for the worse. He had been immersed in the wondrous world of magic and was no longer unpopular, friendless or poor but at the same time, had had to contend with monsters, evil wizards and unwanted publicity. At least escaping to the Muggle world once in awhile allowed him some respite from his notoriety as the Boy Who Lived. He had never felt any pride at surviving death at the hands of Lord Voldemort, murderer of his parents. His mother, in giving her life up to protect his, had invested in him a magical protection that made the curse hurled at Harry rebound onto Voldemort divesting him of his power. In Harry's eyes, his mother was the real hero for her love had saved him and rid the wizarding world of their biggest threat and enemy.
Voldemort, however, had risen again to his full power and was recalling his former followers, the Death Eaters to his service. Often, as Harry lay on his bed at night, his thoughts wandered to his friends. Were they alright, were they safe, had Voldemort got to them yet? Thanks to some ancient magic used by Dumbledore, his headmaster at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry was safe from harm as long as he was with relatives. He could only hope that his friends and loved ones had taken extra precautions and that he would see them when he got to Hogwarts in a few days.
His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of three owls, swooping in through the window. "Welcome back, Hedwig!" The beautiful snowy owl chirruped and nibbled at his fingers affectionately. She was carrying a parcel, which upon opening, Harry found a birthday card and fine set of silver-tipped falcon-feather quills from Hermione. The minute owl that had come with Hedwig belonged to his best friend Ron and was hopping around excitedly waiting for Harry to open his delivery. "Alright, hang on a bit, Pig, " Harry took the package shaking his head again at the owl's utterly inappropriate name. Inside was a card from Ron along with a box of assorted tricks and joke items. "Looks like Fred and George have Weasley's Wheezes all set up and running." Ron's twin brothers had planned on opening a joke shop and Harry had been their unexpected benefactor by giving them the thousand galleons he had won in the Triwizard Tournament. His parents having left him a small fortune already, he felt relief at being able to give the money away. He didn't need it anyhow.
The third owl perched, dignified on his bedpost and the Hogwart's crest it wore gave it a further air of refinement. As expected, Harry retrieved from it a letter he knew would detail the books and items he would need for his fifth year at school. As he took the parchment, another smaller, folded piece of paper fell out. Curious, Harry unfolded it and started to read.
Dear Harry,
Taking into account events of last term, Hagrid will personally escort you to school and before school starts, take you to Diagon Alley for the usual procuring of your school necessities. I hope you will find it an agreeable arrangement and I trust that you could not be in safer hands.
Hoping you had a pleasant summer,
Prof. Dumbledore
Hoping he would find it agreeable? Harry was overjoyed at the thought! Hagrid was coming to visit him and take him to London so he wouldn't have to suffer the long unpleasant ride to London with his Uncle Vernon. What worried him a little was, how and when he was coming. There was nothing stated in the letter.
"Oy, Harry!" At least, now he knew when.
"Hagrid!' Harry called back to him from his window. He saw the large man standing at the gate of Privet Drive. Thankfully, the Dursleys were out visiting business associates of Uncle Vernon. He came running down to hug his friend. "I wasn't expecting you this early!"
Hagrid chuckled. "It is your birthday after all, Harry. Thought it would be better you spending it elsewhere for a change. Just like that day I came to get you."
"How could I forget, Hagrid?" They shared another laugh before going upstairs to pack Harry's things and put Hedwig in her cage.
"Err, Hagrid, how are we supposed to get to London?" Harry looked apprehensively around as he noticed neither broomstick nor any other means of transportation, magical or Muggle. "Don't see anything, do ya, Harry?" Putting out his hand, Hagrid appeared to lean on something. "Got yer an invisible car, Harry, so you can just put your stuff in the back and it'll get us straight to Diagon Alley." Raising his eyebrows, Harry stared at Hagrid. "Is this allowed, Hagrid? And since when did you learn how to drive?" "Well, Harry, unusual times call for unusual measures and the car drives, or I should say, flies itself so you and me can just sit in the back and catch up on what you've been up ter all summer, eh, Harry boy?"
Hedwig was quite put out at having to be in another flying car. The last time that happened, the car had flown right into a tree giving Ron, Harry and Hedwig a very nasty shock. "We're not gonna be long, Hedwig and I'm sure it's perfectly safe, right, Hagrid?" "Right, Harry, right." Harry fervently hoped he was imagining the uneasiness in Hagrid's gaze.
Thankfully, they arrived in London without incident, and soon Harry was happily chatting with Hagrid as they proceeded to Diagon Alley.
Leaving Gringotts bank after filling up his moneybag with the usual galleons, sickles and knuts, Harry was startled by the sound of two familiar voices.
"Harry! Harry!" It was Ron and Hermione, beaming and waving at him from a corner shop. It was shaping to be the best birthday Harry ever had, with his closest friends by his side and the Dursleys far, far away. After shopping for their school supplies and enjoying sundaes together, Hagrid interrupted their reverie with, "Well, we'd best be going off to school now." "Hogwart's? Now, Hagrid?" The three were flabbergasted and asked question after question before Hagrid finally raised his hand. "Now, now, quiet down. Dumbledore insisted. We thought this was the best way ter keep you safe, keep an eye on you. You weren't expectin' it so neither would they." Silent, Ron, Harry and Hermione nodded their heads, knowing full well who 'they' were.
"Besides, you lot will get to meet the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. She'll be meeting us at the station. "
"She?" They all looked at Hagrid with interest, particularly Ron. In their four years at Hogwart's they had never had a female teacher for that subject.
"Yeah, so get a move on. It isn't everyday you have the Hogwart's Express run especially for you." He was soon hustling them out of Diagon Alley and arranging their trunks in the invisible car boot.
After getting the car to take them to the station, they wheeled their things onto trolleys to the usual platform.
"What do you reckon she'll look like, Ron?" Harry looked over to his friend.
"Probably she'll be really, really old. Would be nice if we got a good looking one for a change."
"Really, Ron, would that get you to pay attention in class then?" Hermione rolled her eyes at him.
"Hey, I do pay attention. Some of the time. Unlike you, some people can get on without hanging on to every word the teacher's saying."
Harry could only smile as the two of them launched into another of what he called, lover's spats. They would kill him if they knew, but, honestly, the way they squabbled all the time reminded him of an old married couple the Dursleys had for neighbours.
Ron saw her first. She was standing at the platform in robes of a deep, dark blue, her long black hair falling in soft waves over her back. She looked over her shoulder as she heard them coming and her eyes were large, heavily lashed and as black as her hair. Though she looked a little pale, her skin was a color that reminded him of caramel and looked almost as soft. Her nose was small and rather delicate looking and as she waved to Hagrid, Harry stole a look at Ron and privately declared him hopelessly smitten, or as Seamus would have said, "An absolute goner."
"Ron, you got your wish." Harry nudged his friend, who had gone curiously slack-jawed.
Recognizing the look on Ron's face as the one he usually got around Veela and a certain Fleur Delacour who Ron had had a mad crush on the previous year, Hermione groaned.
"Hagrid!" The woman grasped his hand warmly and lightly pecked him on the cheek.
Blushing darkly, Hagrid turned to introduce her.
"Ron, Harry, Hermione, this is your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Seraphim."
Even while shaking her hand, Ron still wasn't able to shut his mouth.
"Well, Hermione, 'least you don't have to worry about him in her class." Harry whispered in her ear.
She merely snorted in reply.
The five of them shared a compartment, which was a bit of a squeeze what with Hagrid's sheer bulk. Soon they were indulging in small talk with Professor Seraphim who shared with them anecdotes of her time at Hogwarts. Although warm and obviously very chummy with Hagrid, she never smiled. The only hint of one was in her eyes, which would glitter with obvious amusement, especially as she recalled hiding in a broom closet, trying to avoid Filch.
"She was another one who would visit me at the cottage before you three. She's as big a lover of animals as your brother, Charlie, Ron." Hagrid looked over to Ron, oblivious to the boy's trance-like state.
"Uh-huh." Ron was unable to speak a single coherent word the entire time they were on the train. Professor Seraphim gave no hint of noticing Ron's rather peculiar behavior and very pleasantly asked about the various houses, the current holder of the Quidditch Cup and their favourite subjects. In what seemed a very short time, they reached their stop where a carriage was waiting to take them to Hogwarts. When they arrived, Harry felt elation and another feeling he had never experienced at the Durseleys' - that he was finally home.
"Happy fifteenth birthday, Harry," he said to himself as he smiled looking into the mirror. On his eleventh birthday, his whole life had changed. That was when he learnt the truth about himself, his parents and his heritage. He, Harry Potter was a wizard and from then on his life had changed at once for the better and for the worse. He had been immersed in the wondrous world of magic and was no longer unpopular, friendless or poor but at the same time, had had to contend with monsters, evil wizards and unwanted publicity. At least escaping to the Muggle world once in awhile allowed him some respite from his notoriety as the Boy Who Lived. He had never felt any pride at surviving death at the hands of Lord Voldemort, murderer of his parents. His mother, in giving her life up to protect his, had invested in him a magical protection that made the curse hurled at Harry rebound onto Voldemort divesting him of his power. In Harry's eyes, his mother was the real hero for her love had saved him and rid the wizarding world of their biggest threat and enemy.
Voldemort, however, had risen again to his full power and was recalling his former followers, the Death Eaters to his service. Often, as Harry lay on his bed at night, his thoughts wandered to his friends. Were they alright, were they safe, had Voldemort got to them yet? Thanks to some ancient magic used by Dumbledore, his headmaster at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry was safe from harm as long as he was with relatives. He could only hope that his friends and loved ones had taken extra precautions and that he would see them when he got to Hogwarts in a few days.
His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of three owls, swooping in through the window. "Welcome back, Hedwig!" The beautiful snowy owl chirruped and nibbled at his fingers affectionately. She was carrying a parcel, which upon opening, Harry found a birthday card and fine set of silver-tipped falcon-feather quills from Hermione. The minute owl that had come with Hedwig belonged to his best friend Ron and was hopping around excitedly waiting for Harry to open his delivery. "Alright, hang on a bit, Pig, " Harry took the package shaking his head again at the owl's utterly inappropriate name. Inside was a card from Ron along with a box of assorted tricks and joke items. "Looks like Fred and George have Weasley's Wheezes all set up and running." Ron's twin brothers had planned on opening a joke shop and Harry had been their unexpected benefactor by giving them the thousand galleons he had won in the Triwizard Tournament. His parents having left him a small fortune already, he felt relief at being able to give the money away. He didn't need it anyhow.
The third owl perched, dignified on his bedpost and the Hogwart's crest it wore gave it a further air of refinement. As expected, Harry retrieved from it a letter he knew would detail the books and items he would need for his fifth year at school. As he took the parchment, another smaller, folded piece of paper fell out. Curious, Harry unfolded it and started to read.
Dear Harry,
Taking into account events of last term, Hagrid will personally escort you to school and before school starts, take you to Diagon Alley for the usual procuring of your school necessities. I hope you will find it an agreeable arrangement and I trust that you could not be in safer hands.
Hoping you had a pleasant summer,
Prof. Dumbledore
Hoping he would find it agreeable? Harry was overjoyed at the thought! Hagrid was coming to visit him and take him to London so he wouldn't have to suffer the long unpleasant ride to London with his Uncle Vernon. What worried him a little was, how and when he was coming. There was nothing stated in the letter.
"Oy, Harry!" At least, now he knew when.
"Hagrid!' Harry called back to him from his window. He saw the large man standing at the gate of Privet Drive. Thankfully, the Dursleys were out visiting business associates of Uncle Vernon. He came running down to hug his friend. "I wasn't expecting you this early!"
Hagrid chuckled. "It is your birthday after all, Harry. Thought it would be better you spending it elsewhere for a change. Just like that day I came to get you."
"How could I forget, Hagrid?" They shared another laugh before going upstairs to pack Harry's things and put Hedwig in her cage.
"Err, Hagrid, how are we supposed to get to London?" Harry looked apprehensively around as he noticed neither broomstick nor any other means of transportation, magical or Muggle. "Don't see anything, do ya, Harry?" Putting out his hand, Hagrid appeared to lean on something. "Got yer an invisible car, Harry, so you can just put your stuff in the back and it'll get us straight to Diagon Alley." Raising his eyebrows, Harry stared at Hagrid. "Is this allowed, Hagrid? And since when did you learn how to drive?" "Well, Harry, unusual times call for unusual measures and the car drives, or I should say, flies itself so you and me can just sit in the back and catch up on what you've been up ter all summer, eh, Harry boy?"
Hedwig was quite put out at having to be in another flying car. The last time that happened, the car had flown right into a tree giving Ron, Harry and Hedwig a very nasty shock. "We're not gonna be long, Hedwig and I'm sure it's perfectly safe, right, Hagrid?" "Right, Harry, right." Harry fervently hoped he was imagining the uneasiness in Hagrid's gaze.
Thankfully, they arrived in London without incident, and soon Harry was happily chatting with Hagrid as they proceeded to Diagon Alley.
Leaving Gringotts bank after filling up his moneybag with the usual galleons, sickles and knuts, Harry was startled by the sound of two familiar voices.
"Harry! Harry!" It was Ron and Hermione, beaming and waving at him from a corner shop. It was shaping to be the best birthday Harry ever had, with his closest friends by his side and the Dursleys far, far away. After shopping for their school supplies and enjoying sundaes together, Hagrid interrupted their reverie with, "Well, we'd best be going off to school now." "Hogwart's? Now, Hagrid?" The three were flabbergasted and asked question after question before Hagrid finally raised his hand. "Now, now, quiet down. Dumbledore insisted. We thought this was the best way ter keep you safe, keep an eye on you. You weren't expectin' it so neither would they." Silent, Ron, Harry and Hermione nodded their heads, knowing full well who 'they' were.
"Besides, you lot will get to meet the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. She'll be meeting us at the station. "
"She?" They all looked at Hagrid with interest, particularly Ron. In their four years at Hogwart's they had never had a female teacher for that subject.
"Yeah, so get a move on. It isn't everyday you have the Hogwart's Express run especially for you." He was soon hustling them out of Diagon Alley and arranging their trunks in the invisible car boot.
After getting the car to take them to the station, they wheeled their things onto trolleys to the usual platform.
"What do you reckon she'll look like, Ron?" Harry looked over to his friend.
"Probably she'll be really, really old. Would be nice if we got a good looking one for a change."
"Really, Ron, would that get you to pay attention in class then?" Hermione rolled her eyes at him.
"Hey, I do pay attention. Some of the time. Unlike you, some people can get on without hanging on to every word the teacher's saying."
Harry could only smile as the two of them launched into another of what he called, lover's spats. They would kill him if they knew, but, honestly, the way they squabbled all the time reminded him of an old married couple the Dursleys had for neighbours.
Ron saw her first. She was standing at the platform in robes of a deep, dark blue, her long black hair falling in soft waves over her back. She looked over her shoulder as she heard them coming and her eyes were large, heavily lashed and as black as her hair. Though she looked a little pale, her skin was a color that reminded him of caramel and looked almost as soft. Her nose was small and rather delicate looking and as she waved to Hagrid, Harry stole a look at Ron and privately declared him hopelessly smitten, or as Seamus would have said, "An absolute goner."
"Ron, you got your wish." Harry nudged his friend, who had gone curiously slack-jawed.
Recognizing the look on Ron's face as the one he usually got around Veela and a certain Fleur Delacour who Ron had had a mad crush on the previous year, Hermione groaned.
"Hagrid!" The woman grasped his hand warmly and lightly pecked him on the cheek.
Blushing darkly, Hagrid turned to introduce her.
"Ron, Harry, Hermione, this is your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Seraphim."
Even while shaking her hand, Ron still wasn't able to shut his mouth.
"Well, Hermione, 'least you don't have to worry about him in her class." Harry whispered in her ear.
She merely snorted in reply.
The five of them shared a compartment, which was a bit of a squeeze what with Hagrid's sheer bulk. Soon they were indulging in small talk with Professor Seraphim who shared with them anecdotes of her time at Hogwarts. Although warm and obviously very chummy with Hagrid, she never smiled. The only hint of one was in her eyes, which would glitter with obvious amusement, especially as she recalled hiding in a broom closet, trying to avoid Filch.
"She was another one who would visit me at the cottage before you three. She's as big a lover of animals as your brother, Charlie, Ron." Hagrid looked over to Ron, oblivious to the boy's trance-like state.
"Uh-huh." Ron was unable to speak a single coherent word the entire time they were on the train. Professor Seraphim gave no hint of noticing Ron's rather peculiar behavior and very pleasantly asked about the various houses, the current holder of the Quidditch Cup and their favourite subjects. In what seemed a very short time, they reached their stop where a carriage was waiting to take them to Hogwarts. When they arrived, Harry felt elation and another feeling he had never experienced at the Durseleys' - that he was finally home.
